THE GENESEE FARMER. 



365 



NOTES BY S. W. 



D. G. Mitchell's (Ike Marble) remarks in tlie 

 last Farmer on the bootlessness of growing corn at 

 the East on a light, sandy soil, are to the point. 

 "When I see such large fields of corn growing on 

 sandy Long It^land, at so great an expense for ma- 

 nure from the city, I can only say it is a pleasant 

 way for a citizen or a farmer to expend his heredi- 

 tary wealth. If Ike would seed down his poor 

 fields with clover, the same maflnre that gives liim 

 a small crop of corn would, if properly applied, 

 give him a large crop of clover, and he would not 

 have to complain that the clover, like the corn, 

 "has a rank appetite for the inorganic elements of 

 the soil." I apprehend, however, that corn, like 

 all the cereal grasses, draws more on the organic 

 elements of the soil than on its mineral constit- 

 uents; but clover being a leguminous plant, col- 

 lects much of its organic elements from the atmos- 

 phere. Give to the soil of one acre, as much rich 

 stall manure as is commonly applied to four acres, 

 and. you will have as much corn; bjit should you 

 do the same by clover, it would fall down and rot 

 on the ground. It is said that Mechi cuts three 

 crops of clover in one season. This is only done 

 by the application of liquid manure after every 

 cutting. But apropos of clover meadows, some 

 say clover only lasts two seasons; let your second 

 crop of clover go to seed on the ground every 

 second or third season, and it will never run out, 

 if a moderate top-dressing is put on every season; 

 but be sure that your top-dressing is free from 

 thistle and dock seed, or it will give you tronl)le. 

 For a small patch, liquid manure is best, as it is 

 free from foul seed, and is more economical of the 

 manure it contains. 



Joseph Weight's Eighteen-kowed Dent Corn. 

 If any man doubts that Weight never gets less, 

 and often more, than one hundred bushels of 

 sheUed corn from an acre, let him come and see the 

 great stouts of husked corn-stalks that now stud 

 his large corn-field, and his credulity will vanish 

 into thin air. There they stand, twelve to fourteen 

 feet high, six feet at the base, defying the autumn's 

 blast. They are only a few feet apart, north and 

 south, with three rows of corn stubble between.- 

 The whole surface, so clean when the corn was 

 earing, is now covered with a thick mat of chick 

 weed. This field has grown the same large crops 

 of corn every year at the expense of twenty to 

 twenty-five two- horse loads of manure to the acre 

 yearly. The large ligneous stalks are all cut up by 

 horse-power, and fed with meal to his large farm 

 stock. 



Mr. W. imports his seed corn yearly from the 

 West, as the cob here grows larger,, and the ker- 

 nels shorter every year from its own seed, until 

 the dent runs out. No Illinois frost could have 

 hurt Weight's corn this season, as it was glazed 

 before the fatal Slst of August so much complained 

 of at the West. So much for good farming. 



I this day shelled two ears of Weight's dent 

 corn, and one of his largest Long Island white flint 

 corn, with the following results: 

 1 ear red cob dent, 9>s in. I'inir, 8^ in. circumference, measiirpd. 



shelled, * 1>^ pinls. 



1 ear red cob dent, I0}i in. long, 7>^ in. circumference, m jisur''!, 



shelled, ...IJ^ pinK 



1 ear Long Island flint, VI in. long, b}i in. at butt and i]i i"- i" 



middle, }i P'"'' 



Thus the largest ear yielded one and a half full 

 pints, wine measure, and the other one gill less, 

 |)lump measure ; while the Long Island white flint, 

 grown on tiie same soil, and the largest ear se- 

 lected, measured two-thirds less tlian the largest 

 ear. The measure of each was a little rounding, 

 and the flint corn was very dry, while the other 

 contained some moisture. 



How TO GET A HEATY CROP OF TuRNIPS AFTER 



Sweet Corn the same season. — Sow the seed of 

 the white French turnip to raise the plants, as you 

 would cabbage plants, only wider apart, so as to 

 get large, stocky plants. After your early sweet 

 corn is picked, cut up the stalks, fork .over the 

 ground, burying the stubble togetlier with a dress* 

 ing of hen dung or other fine manure ; then take 

 up your plants carefully, with plenty of soil on the 

 roots, set them two to two and a half feet apart, 

 and if it is dry weather water them with liquid 

 manure, soap suds, &c. This will keep oft' worms, 

 and the plants will grow apace. I have them now 

 measuring five inches in diameter, transplanted 

 about the middle of August. They are tiie favorite 

 turnip here. 



HOW TO MAZE DOCILE HORSES, 

 The docility and amazing instinct of the Arab 

 horse are shown to proceed mainly from his con- 

 stant association with the family of his owner — 

 sharing their food, sleeping in their tent, and lastly 

 from the early age at which he is broken in, which 

 they say checks the development of the spleen — a 

 very important point in the opinion of the Arabs : 

 " At the age of eighteen to twenty months the 

 colt is mounted by a clnld, who takes him to water, 

 goes in searcli of grass or leads him to the pasture. 

 Not to hurt the bars, he guides him with a longe, 

 or a tolerably soft mule's bit. This exercise is 

 good for them both. Tlie child grows up a horseman, 

 and the colt acquires the habit of carrying a weight 

 proportioned to his strength. He learns to walk, 

 to tear nothing, and it is in this manner, say the 

 Arabs, that 'we contrive never to have restive 

 horses.' For the first few days the bit is covered 

 with undressed wool, partly witli a view not to 

 hurt his bars, and partly to allure him to docility 

 by the saltish flavor of which he is so fond. When 

 he begins to cluimp the bit, the task is nearly ac- 

 complished. This preparatory exercise takes place 

 morning and evening. Thus sa.oaciously handled, 

 the young animal will be ready U) be mounted in 

 the early part of the autumn — when he will be 

 less tormented by the flies and heat. We,ilthy 

 owners, before they allow their colt to be mounted 

 by a grown-up man, sometimes have him led up 

 and down gently for a fortnight with a pack-saddle 

 on his back, supporting two baskets filled with sand." 

 When he is about thirty months old, the colt is 

 taught not to break loose from his rider when 'the 

 latter sots foot to earth, and not even to stir from 

 the spot-whore the bridle has been passed over his 

 head and allowed to drag on the ground. Especial 

 care is taken in teaching this lesson, because it id 

 one of great importance in Arab life. 



